Fender or wheel-guard.



F. E. HUTGHINGS. FENDEROR'WHEEL GUARD. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18,1911.

Patented Feb.27, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHI1ET 1.

24256288888 fnvenf r' w mu g F. E. HUTOHINGS. FENDER 0R WHEEL GUARD.APPLICATION PI'LED JAN.18,-1911.

Patented Feb. 2'7, 1912.

2 BHEETS- SHEET 2.

. 5 .iya 7 messes 2 9 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK E. HUTCHINGS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AUTO LIFE SAVINGFENDER 00., 'A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

, FENDER OR WHEEL-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

Application filed January 18, 1911. Serial No. 603,255.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. Huronmos, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn,county of Kings, State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedFender or lVheel-Guard, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in fenders or wheelguards adapted for use on the forward portion of street cars or motorvehicles, and relates more particularly to that type of construction inwhich there is a basket or other similar port-ion normally held in aninoperative position, but brought into operative position in case ofemergency.

Although my invention is equally applicable to street cars and motorvehicles, yet certain features thereof are especially designed for useon the latter.

The main object of my invention is to provide a form of flexible curtainor sheet which is normally held in a raised or inoperative position butmay be moved not only downwardly toward the ground, but also forwardlyso as to form a basket operative to receive a person or other bodycolliding with the vehicle.

' 'A further important feature of my invention is the provision of ahand rail of such a character that in case the vehicle runs into aperson and the latter comes in contact with this rail, the movement ofthe rail upwardly or downwardly will serve equally well to release thefender, and bring it into operative position.

By the term operative position, I mean in a position to operate as afender, that is, to receive or to engage with the body or obstacle,while by inoperative position" I mean ,in such a position that it willnot receive orisupport a body with which the car may come intocollision. .The fender body is normally supported in inoperativeposition, which in the particular form illustrated is a raised position,and upon the opera ing of the releasing catch, the fender bod is loweredand pushed forward to operative position.

Various other important features of my invention will be pointed outmore particularly hereinafter.

The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of partsdefined in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part ofthis specification, and in which the samereference characters indicatesimilar parts in the several views.

Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a vehicle, showing myimproved fender or wheel guard in inoperative position; Fig. 2 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1, showing the fender released and dropped to theground; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the fender pushed to itsforwardmost position; Fig. 4 is a plan view 'of the parts shown in Fig.3; Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on the line 55 of F ig. 4; F ig. 6 is asectional detail on the line 6-6, of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a sectionaldetail on the line 7 7 of Fig. 4; Fig. 8 is a sectional detail on theline 8-8 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 9 is a side elevation somewhat similar toFig. 3, but showing a somewhat modified construction.

In the specific form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, I haveillustrated one form which my invention may assume, but it is of courseunderstood that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction within the scope of the appended claims without in any waydeparting from the spirit of my invention.

The drawing is to be considered in an illustrative sense rather than ina limiting one.

In the particular form illustrated, I employ a fender or wheel guardhaving a body portion, 10. in the form of a flexible curtain or sheet.This body may be made up of a plurality of separate parallel rods orrollers. 11, as illustrated particularly in Figs. 5 and 7, and these maybe connected by a series of links, 12. so as to render the body free tobend or flex on any line transversely of the body. The rods or rollersare of such strength or rigidity that they will not bend to anymaterialextent, but may give somewhat under the strain of a body striking them.The bodyis guided and supported at its end edges by a frame, each sideportion of which is made up of two telescopic sections, 13 and 14. Theouter sections, 14,

are secured to the vehicle in any suitable manner so as to dependtherefrom. In the specific form illustrated, these sections are I bodymay slide vertically in sections, 13,

within the channel and present a groove within which the ends of therods, 11, are guided vertically. The rods forming the and the parts areso proportioned that when the fender is in its raised position, theupper end of the section, 13, will be adjacent to the upper end ofsection, 14, and the upper rod of the body will also come adjacent tothe upper end of the section, 14. When the fender is in loweredposition, the section, 13, will-drop down so that its upper end isadjacent to the lower end of the section, 14, and the upper rod of thebody will .be adjacent to the lower end of thesection, 13. Any suitablemeans may be provided for limiting the downward movement of the section,13, and the body. As shown in ,Fig. 7, the upper rod of the body isslightly Longer than the other rods and engages on a shoulder, 15, atthe lower endaof' the frame section, 13.

For supporting the body in its raised position, I provide a suitablecatch and a hand rail or guard, so constructed that when this hand railor guard is either raised or lowered, the catch will be released and thefender permitted to drop. -The details of construction of this catch arenot. important, as a different mechanism maybe employed foraccomplishing the same result.

In the specific form illustrated, Iconnect' together the front ends ofthe sides of the chassis by a rod, 16, mounted to rock or oscillate.Extending forwardly from this rod are arms, 17, at the front ends ofwhich are one or more transversely extending hand rails or guards, 18. Ihave illustrated the arms, 17, as having diverging branches and haveillustrated a plurality of the hand rails, but it is, of course, evidentthat only a single handrail may be employed if desired. .The rod, 16, isheld in normal position by such a mechanism as will permit the rod to berocked upon the raising or lowering of the handrails. This mechanism mayinclude a heavy spring, 19, connectedto the rod and extending betweentwo pins, '20, on the chassis. The rocking of the rod in eitherdirection will compress the spring. As soon as the hand rail isreleased, the spring will bring the handrail and rod',.16, back tonormal position. Secured to the chassis, adjacent to this rod orrock-shaft, is ,an elbow lever, 21, pivoted on preventing the a pin, 22.One end of the elbow lever terminates in a hook, 23, which may engagewith the upper rod of the fender body, and the opposite end of the elbowlever terminates adjacent to the flat side of a cam, 24, rigid on therock-shaft, 16. Upon rotating the rock-shaft and cam, 24, in eitherdirection from the position indicated in Fig. 5, the outer end of .thelever 21 will be depressed and the hook, 23, will be moved rearwardly soas to release the fender body and permit it to drop.

The lower end of the fender body, 10, is connected to a traiisverselyextending plate or bar, 25, which is preferably thinner at its frontedge than at its rear. This plate or bar may be formed of heavy metal,so as to give it considerable mass and cause it to descend rapidly.under the action of gravity upon being released. It is also preferablycovered with canvas, rubber or other suitable protecting means, so as toreduce the liability of injuring a person should this bar come violentlyinto contact with one. The bar, 25, is connected to two or morerearwardly extending spring braces, 26, which serve to force the bar andbody forwardly after the bar has been lowered to the ground, and alsoserve as springs for forcing the bar and body. down to the ground. Asshown, these braces are curved somewhatadjacent to their front ends, soas to support the lower portion of the body when the latter is'advanced, and are rigidly connected to the bar, 25, so as to hold thelatter at all times in approximately a horizontal position. The bracesat their rear ends are connected to brackets, hangers or other portions.27, of the chassis or body, and may be held in place by suitable bolts,28, extending through slots, 29 in the braces 26, shown in dotted linesin Fig. 4. These slots permit the braces to slide forwardly andrearwardly, but prevent any other movement of them. The braces arepreferably formed of spring steel and have a permanent set tending tothrow their front ends outwardly. Any suitable means may be connected tothe braces so as to normally tend to force them forwardly. As shown inFigs. 1 to 4 inclusive, I employ a double bow spring, 30. The oppositesides of this spring are but a short distance apart, as illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, when the fender is in its raised position and when firstdropped to the ground, but the sides separate to force the fender bodyforwardly as soon as the latter does reach the ground as is shown in-Figs. 3 and 4.-

Any suitable means maybe employed for forward movement of the fenderbody when the latter is in any other than its lowered position. Onemeans which may be employed is a bar or depending stud, 31, extendingthrough a slot in its corresponding brace, 26. Each stud has a reducedportion, 32, adjacent to its lower endv and just above the head on thelower end. Each slot in the bracehas two separate portions, 33 and 34,connected by a portion of reduced width, 35, as illustrated in Fig. 8.The portion, 33, of the slot, is of substantially the same width as thediameter of the body of the stud, while the reduced portion,

35 of the slot, is of substantially the same width as the reducedportion, 32, of the stud. hen the fender is in its raised position, thestud is within the slot portion, 33, and the reduced portion, 35,prevents the forward movement of the fender. After the fender hasdropped from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig.2, the spring 30 forces the fender and braces forwardly and the reducedportion, 35, of the slot passes the reduced portion, 32, of the stub,and the stud will then be in the wider slot portion, 34. The fender maynow slide forwardly and the brace may rise upwardly along the stud, ifnecessary, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

I do not wish to be limited to the details of construct-ion abovedescribed, as various changes may be made. InpFig. 9, I have illustrateda somewhat different construction in which a coil spring, 30*, isemployed in place ofthe double bow spring, 30. The upper rod of thefender body is connected to a roller, 38, at the lower end of framesections, 14*. Instead of the fender body sliding upward and along theframe when said body is raised, it rolls up on the roller, 38.

This roller may be made with a spring (not shown) similar to an ordinaryshade roller, For holding the fender in raised position, links, 36, maybe employed which have notches or shoulders, 37, for engagement with thecatch, 23. w

Other changes in the construction may be made if desired.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A fender having a flexible, body portion in the form of asubstantially vertical curtain, means for normally supporting saidcurtain with the lower-edge raised above the ground, means for loweringsaid lower edge and means for advancing said lower edge after the latterhas been lowered.

2. A fender having a body in the form of a substantially verticalflexible curtain, means for normally supporting the lower edge in raisedposition, means for preventing the forward movement of said lower edgeduring the lowering of the latter, and means for advancing said loweredge after the same has been lowered.

3. A fender having a body portion free to bend along lines transverselythereof, a catch for holding a portion of said body in raised position,a transversely extending 4. A fender having a body portion and catch forholding the same in inoperative position, a hand rail and operativeconnections between said hand rail and said catch for releasing the bodyportion and permitting it to move to operative position upon themovement .of the'hand rail to any one of a plurality of positions.

5. A fender having a body normally held in inoperative position, aforwardly extending arm, a hand rail carried by said arm and connectionsbetween said arm and said fender body whereby a movement of the raileither upwardly or downwardly from a normal position will release saidbody and permit it to move to operative position.

6. A fender having a body formed of a plurality of transverselyextending pivotally connected rods and braces secured to one of saidrods and movable downwardly and forwardly to bring the fender intooperative position.

7. A fender having a pair of braces supported adjacent to their rearends, a spring normally forcing said braces forwardly, means forpreventing said forward movement, a fender body including a curtainhaving one edge thereof secured to the frontends of said braces andmeans for supporting the opposite edge thereof.

8. A fender having a pair of braces supported adjacent to their rearends, a spring normally forcing said braces forwardly, means forpreventing said forward movement, a fender body, including a curtainhaving one edgesecured to the front ends of said braces, a means forsupporting the opposite edge of said curtain, and means disposed inadvance of the fender for releasing said supporting means,

' 9. A fender having a transversely extend- .ing front bar and bracessupported at their rear ends, and h'aving their forward ends secured tosaid bar, said braces having a permanent set normally tending to forcetheir forward ends downwardly, a fender body connected to said bar,adapted to be supported by said braces when the latter are in loweredpositions, and means for normally supporting the forward ends of saidbraces to hold the body in raised position.

10. A fender having a transversely ex tending bar, downwardly andforwardly extending braces connected to said bar and supported at theirrear ends, a spring for forcing said rear ends forwardly, means tendingto force the forward ends downwardly and means'preventing the forwardmovement of the braces while the latter are held in raised position. v

11. A fender including a body portion substantially in the form of acurtain, a 7

frame including vertically movable sections for supporting and guidingthe edges of said curtain, and means for advancing the lower edge ofsaid curtain beyond the lower edge of said sections.

12. A fender having a receiving body, a catch for holding said body inraised position, and guides for the side edges of said body, said guidesbeing movable and normally held in raised position by said body.

13. A fender having a body, a catch for holding said body in raisedposition, a transversely extending hand rail and operative connectionsbetween said hand rail and said catch, whereby a raising or lowering ofsaid hand rail operates said catch to release the body.

14. A car fender having pairs of side guides, each guide including asubstantially vertical stationary section supported at its upper end anda vertical section having sla' ding engagement therewith, a curtainhaving sliding engagement with said sliding sect ion and means fornormally holding said curtain in a substantially vertical plane in itsupper'limiting position and with said sliding sections in their upperlimiting positions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK E. HUTCHINGS. Witnesses:

C. W. FAIRBANK, W. C. CAMPBELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe. Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. G.

